Red Moon (Colors of the Moon #2)

Chapter 1

Racing past the trees, I was tackled by a hundred and seventy pounds of muscle. I crashed to the forest ground, barely able to use my hands to soften the fall.

The dumb-ass quickly rolled off me, sparing me from being crushed by the sheer weight of his body. Without turning, I knew who it was. Only one person would dare to do this, and I was going to kill him for his audacity.

I rolled onto my back, my eyes landing on the guy who now stood above me. All of his features were as familiar as the ever-present dirt underneath my fingernails. From the raised bushy eyebrows, the piercing brown eyes, to the dark brown skin glistening with the first drops of sweat.

His name was Hunter and one could argue that he was my only friend.

"What the hell, Hunt?!" I snarled up at him.

He extended his hand to help me stand, but I swatted it away. I didn't need his help to get back up, especially since he'd been the one who caused me to fall in the first place.

Even in my standing position he still towered over me. My five feet and three inches made me almost a foot smaller than him. However, I had never allowed it to stand in my way before.

With my hands on my hips I glared up at him.

"What are you doing here?" His voice held an edge of steel; one he had used only five times in all of my eighteen years.

"What'd you think I'm doing, dumb-ass? Taking an early morning walk?" I didn't spare the sarcasm.

Careful, Ren. He is still your future Alpha.

The voice of reason came from no other than my wolf Shyrin. She was the only reason why I sometimes hated being a werewolf. It wouldn't be like this, if she was a blood thirsty wolf. But no, my wolf had to be a soft soul, never wanting to cause any trouble. She even hated stepping out of line; something I did without thinking.

However, because her voice was only inside my head I normally just ignored her.

"I'm here to bash some rogue heads, just like you. You did get the mind-link about a group of rogues getting past the border? Come on, I've been itching for a fight since you skipped out on me this morning."

I was bouncing from one foot to the other, excited for what was about to come. It had been a while since my last good fight. Not having to hold back, afraid I might hurt a fellow pack member.

"Go back to the pack house and make sure the pups, the women and the elderly get to the safe house." His cold eyes zeroed in on mine, not a single speck of warmth in them.

He wasn't looking at me as my friend, but as the future Alpha of Black Moon. He almost looked like an angry father scolding a little child who was way in over her head.

I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. The burning ruby red hair which hardly even covered my ears or the big aqua blue eyes? The ripping muscles underneath my clothes or the doll-like facial features? The hidden scars we never spoke about or the otherwise unblemished light skin?

Did he see me as a warrior or a girl?

"Hell no. I'm staying right here. I'm going to defend our pack." My hands were clenched into fists, as I fought not to bare my teeth at him.

He was being unreasonable and a douche. No way was I going to miss all the action.

"Do as I told you, Ren. Go back to the pack house." He took a step closer to me, forcing me to lift my chin even higher.

I wanted to stay right here and disobey his order, but I couldn't. He had used his Alpha tone. Not even my Beta genes were able to disobey a direct order from the Alpha. There was nothing I could do but follow his charge.